The New Murrey and Blue blog

There was an interesting post on one of the Ricardian Facebook Groups the other day regarding the type of horses Richard might have used for different purposes.

It was mainly about the ‘amblers’ he was apparently known to possess which moved in a different way to that which we consider is normal today (walking, trotting, cantering and galloping). They move in a way that to me seems similar to an Olympic walking race for humans, i.e. without the usual up=down motion that jolts the rider. This is called a gaited horse and here is a link to a video from You Tube that shows a modern gaited horse moving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4eiYN0c5WE&feature=youtu.be

It would have been much smoother for long journeys which they had perforce to make in Mediaeval times and might have been even more important for Richard, whose back, because of his scoliosis would have been less able to absorb shocks.

Meanwhile, elsewhere I was researching the type of horse he would have had in battle: a destrier. There is a Facebook group called Destrier who supply mounted re-enactors for jousts, re-enactments, etc, and they directed me to a video of a bull-fighting horse, which they said is probably the nearest we have today to that type of horse – strong, agile and trained to respond to the slightest touch. Suitable breeds are Andalusian and Lusitano horses.  I strongly disapprove of bull-fighting and watched it with trepidation, but I concentrated on the horse and it was amazing! I have since found a video of the same horse training so you can watch it without fear of seeing a bull tormented. (There is a bull in it at the end, but it isn’t harmed). This horse almost dances! Richard would have been awesome on a horse like this in his armour!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJiaSHwOkcs

So what would Richard have ridden to hunt? The consensus seems to be a courser, which could also be used as a cavalry horse. It was strong, agile, steady and had stamina, not as refined or highly trained as a destrier, but cheaper.